Bottom of the River
by Lupe Rouge
Summary: "The dead always win." [Lee/OC]
1. Incipience

Georgia: home of the largest aquarium in the world, Coca-Cola World and the CDC. This state had been home to Regina Garcia and her four year old son for three years. Regina hated Georgia compared to her home in Virginia, but ever since she was transferred for her job, she made no move to return.

Regina was angry—not with the world, no. She was angry with the person whom she trusted with her white Ford Endeavor. She allowed her younger sister, Ferrera, to borrow her car that day so she would be able to go out with friends. The only condition Regina gave Ferrera was to be on time to pick her up from work. Her little sister was late by an hour which left Regina to call a cab to go pick up her son, Daniel, from his day care.

Now she stalked the downtown sidewalk with Daniel's hand clutched in her own, angry.

_Beep! Beep!_

Her Ford Endeavor pulled up to the side walk where she turned to look at who was honking at her. The window opened and Ferrera poked her head out, her brown eyes sheepishly staring out at her sister's similar dark brown ones. Regina's eyes flared upon sight of her sister, "I trust you to pick me up on time and you can't even do that! How do you expect to go back to living with Mama and Dad like you want if I can't even trust you?"

Ferrera never liked being the one yelled at, but then again, what sixteen year old would? Ferrera was the type to blow up at you if you blew up at her, even if she was the one wrong and deserved the roasting. "I was caught in traffic! Calm down!" Ferrera mumbled something along the lines of 'cunt', but Regina chose to ignore the comment. She was only a teenager after all and that was something Regina could understand even at the age of thirty two.

Ferrera moved over into the passenger seat as Regina helped Daniel into the back seat. She then climbed into the driver's seat after closing his door, put her seat belt on and pulled away from the curb to drive toward the highway. The moment she got onto the highway, she was slowed down tremendously by the cars stuck in a slowing line.

"What the…? What's the hold up?"

Ferrera crossed her arms and kicked her legs up onto the dashboard, "Told you. There's like a bunch of paramedics up the road. There's some freaky shit goin' down. I watched the news this mornin' and they said that some places in Atlanta were being quarantined, but they weren't giving any details. I saw people bleeding and being attacked on my way up. Thought they would have already cleared it out by the time we got back onto the highway, though."

Taken aback, Regina looked to her sister who was oddly calm about people—plural, mind you—being attacked. "A-attacked?" She sputtered.

In the back seat, Daniel gasped, "Swear jar, Ferrera!"

The younger girl ignored her nephew, "Yeah, attacked. Like a few people were gettin' up off the stretcher or the ground and started biting into the paramedics."

Regina stared disbelievingly at Ferrera, "And you didn't think that was important to tell me?"

Ferrera turned up the radio, switching from The Heat Station to 107.5. "I tried, but you wouldn't let me speak. You just kept spittin' rules at me about the car," She then moved to stick her head out the window to look farther down the highway. Complete chaos.

There were at least three collisions between cars, two or three of the cars involved in the mass wreck catching fire. Georgia citizens were just abandoning their car since they couldn't get out of the blockade of traffic.

People of all ages walked the streets, but there was something off. They were bloodied and walking oddly—some even dragging themselves across the ground. These people were dragging others out of their cars, trucks, and off their motorcycles, and then began… They began biting into them.

_What the fuck_? Ferrera thought, shooting back into her seat and rolling up her window quickly. People were being eaten by people! Cannibalism! How in the hell did she not notice this on her way to pick up her sister? Sure, there were police trying to calm down the situation while directing traffic, but it wasn't a nearly as chaotic as this. How did it get out of hand so quickly? How did she not hear the sounds of gunshots ringing through the air?

That's right… She had the music blasting. Ferrera also spent thirty minutes searching the streets of Atlanta since her calls to Regina weren't going through. So the situation on the highway had a small timeframe for things to go to shit.

Regina raised an eyebrow at Ferrera's sudden change of attitude from nonchalant to one of absolute fear. "What's up?"

"Peo…" Ferrera couldn't find the words to speak. When she began to talk, she was interrupted by a shriek from Daniel and the rocking of the car. Regina turned back and her motherly instinct kicked in, she pulled Daniel up to the front as these…people…? were slamming their hands against the glass of the car. There were about six of them. Few of their faces were rotted while most only had their skin torn to pieces and were bleeding profusely. They all had one thing in common: the glazed over eyes. It was as if they weren't all there. In fact, none of them were there mentally.

Out of fear, Regina pulled the car into reverse, thanking God that she wasn't closed in on the exit ramp. The car rocked as it hit multiple people. "God forgive me…" Regina mumbled to herself.

Ferrera rolled her eyes as she gripped tightly onto Daniel, "Forgive you for what? I'm pretty sure those ain't people."

Regina was able to get onto stable road, but Atlanta had become different in the twenty minutes she was stuck on the ramp. Its citizens looked to be in complete shambles. People were running this way and that while others were crashing through windows of shops and stores, some ransacking the location. This reminded Ferrera of the Hurricane Katrina Aftermath video she had to watch in class without the water flood and more of a frantic atmosphere.

Regina gasped as she watched what she could as she sped down the street, maneuvering around other cars and even using the sidewalk to get around car wrecks blocking the road. She caught sight of a man being torn to pieces by the decayed and slow humans. She heard some gunshots ring through the air and the crashing of metal. "Then what the hell are they?"

Daniel covered his head, "Mommy…" He whimpered. The rush or the moment scared him. He didn't know what was going on and the fact that he felt as if they were running from something had no positive effect on his fears.

Keeping one hand on the wheel and her eyes on the road, Regina reached to the side with her right hand to run her fingers through Daniel's curly dark brown hair. It usually calmed him when she did such a thing, but this did nothing in the current situation. She could still feel him trembling.

Ferrera placed a hand firmly over Daniel's eyes to shield his view of the morbid acts taking place, "I've seen way too many movies not to know what these are. They're zombies, Gina. I'm surprised you haven't caught on, Ms. Lawyer," Ferrera's shoulder hit the car door as Regina cut a sharp left, "Where are we going?"

"The back way home," her older sister answered, "If this is zombies we're dealing with—and I'm not saying that's what they are—then we need to get home and lock up."

Ferrera, hearing the words 'lock up', maneuvered around Daniel and clicked the button on the door to lock the doors as a response, "Alright."

Regina winced and Daniel began to sob as his mother rammed something with the grill of her car. "It's okay, baby. It's okay," she cooed to Daniel, but the panic in her voice made him panic even more. Regina wasn't sure if that was one of the undead that she had hit or if that was a person.

Regina glanced at her little sister, "I've got a feeling that soon, if this isn't a false alarm, the electricity and the water will be cut off, so what I'm going to do is get us home and lock up the house. As soon as we get home, I need you to clog up every sink, every bathtub, and fill everything with water. Buckets, too. Put every electronic that can be charged on the charger—Phones, laptops, iPods, anything. Got that?"

Ferrera nodded. Regina began to regret not ever listening to the precautions people must take for weather emergencies, but she's watched enough Travel Channel and Survivor Man when she was bored to know what to do—somewhat. "I'm going to leave out again. I've gotta get to the store before other people do and all hell breaks loose. Sam's Club should be good. While I'm gone, I want you to keep Daniel close and pack us each a backpack of clothes, 'kay? Find all medications and especially Daniel's extra inhalers."

Ferrera attempted to coo to her nephew to calm him down as her sister gave her orders. Ferrera nodded once more and braced herself for the bumpy ride, noting how her sister gave her most of the work… the lazy bint.

Westbrook was a gated community, which Regina was grateful her parent's talked her into buying a house in. The more she drove the streets of Georgia, the more Regina was convinced this was the real deal Zombie Apocalypse. There weren't as many zombies by Westbrook as in Atlanta, but she could already tell they were growing in numbers. The moment the gate opened Regina sped through the opening and she prayed the gate closed in time. The neighborhood looked to be still intact.

Upon arriving to their two story home, Ferrera opened the door ready to hop out the car. Daniel quickly followed her to the front door and stuck his thumb in his mouth as a habit as his aunt rushed to unlock the door. She eventually busted into the house, Regina and Daniel at her heels. They went into action.

Regina sat Daniel on the couch and had him watch Cartoon Network while she and Ferrera rushed around the house. She could hear the master bathtub beginning to spew water heavily from its faucet upstairs, the bathtub in the Jack 'n Jill bathroom quickly following the master bathroom's rhythm.

Regina rushed out into the back shed. Looking around, she realized that she couldn't carry all the plywood into the house herself. She called her son to help with the little things, giving him gardening gloves so he could drag plywood by plywood into the house without splinters.

All of the plywood belonged to Regina's carpenter uncle. He was meant to finish her basement on a discount, but he went out of town on a promise to come back and finish the half done basement. She and Daniel worked together to bring in the wood until the clock hit one PM. There was even a broken down bunk bed that belonged to Daniel and Ferrera when they lived in and a two bedroom townhouse four months prior. Regina brought that in too.

As his mother brought in the bunk bed skeleton through the basement door, Daniel lugged in the tool box.

His mother set to work and Daniel handed her the tools. As Regina nailed three piece of plywood, she called down Ferrera, made sure she was done filling up all of sinks, tubs, and buckets full of water and the electronics were charging, and gave her a mallet.

"What am I meant to do with this?" Ferrera casted a look to her sister. Regina pointed her in the direction of two old dressers that once were in Regina's bedroom before she brought different ones from IKEA, "Break those down into pieces we can block the doors and windows with."

Ferrera gave a sinister laugh, making Daniel stared at her cautiously, "I get to break shit!"

"Swear jar, Chachi!"

"Shut up, Danny."

"Get to work!" Regina cut in.

Within an hour half of the plywood was used on the windows and the door was blocked using the bed skeleton which Regina found a way to drill to the doorframe. No one was getting in or out of the basement for a while. Regina was glad she had Ferrera tear the dressers into scrap wood.

They then moved to the first floor and while Regina blocked the windows, Daniel handed her the tools as Ferrera brought up the other scraps of wood.

"What if this was all just a false alarm?" Ferrera questioned, "Imagine how stupid we'd look."

"I'd rather look stupid than worry about what others think about me and get killed by zombies." Regina replied.

Ferrera hummed, "Zombies sound like such a kiddy word. Let's call them something else…" She suggested.

Not wanting to bother with her sister's 'I-want-to-be-different' demeanor, Regina grumbled, "Like what?" She didn't have time to answer such trivial things. She still needed to make it to the store and they still needed to board up another window and block the front door.

It was a moment of silence before Ferrera uttered a response, "Walkers."

Regina really wasn't paying attention, "Fine, Ferrera, fine. Now go move the book shelf from the den to the foyer. Don't block it yet, but when I tell you to, you block it. Don't let anyone in. I'll come in through the garage."

Ferrera moved all of the heaviest items she could to the foyer as her older sister and Daniel blocked up the last window. Regina didn't block the second floor because she was sure no one could reach the second floor. Regina went to her room and into her closet. The attic entrance was at the top of her walk in closet. She tugged the string and allowed the ladder to come down.

She climbed the ladder and pulled a suitcase from the attic and closed it again. She tossed the suitcase onto her bed and went to her dresser to pull out a pair of jeans. Regina changed quickly, tossing her black hair into a ponytail and covering her feet with her brown boots.

Opening the suitcase, she revealed a set up of guns that belonged to her ex fiancé. When she kicked him out, the guns were one of the few things she allowed him to forget. _The bastard._

Regina picked out a simple 9 millimeter and hid it into her right leather boot, the safety already being on. When she went back downstairs, Daniel and Ferrera sat on the couch watching the news. She caught the caption on the screen: _Reality: Zombie Apocalypse 2012_. Not exactly something Regina wanted Daniel to watch, but there wasn't really anything wrong with it.

"What's goin' on?" Regina questioned.

Ferrera turned back to look at her sister, "The CDC isn't givin' out any information. It's not only Georgia goin' through this, from here and Maine to Louisiana and Missouri. They've got a lot of places quarantined. I can't believe how fast this went down. Like, it's only been half a day and nearly all of the United States is becoming infested with them. These clips they're showing… Those walkers are vicious. This is some serious shit goin' down, Gina. Please be careful gettin' to the store."

Regina nodded and leaned over the couch to kiss Daniel's cheek before moving to go out the front door. Ferrera followed and watched as her sister moved to go out the front door. Regina turned back to look at Ferrera, "Push everything up against this door. Don't let anyone in. I'll be coming through the garage."

"Gotcha."

Driving to Wal-Mart, Regina noted that the walkers had gotten closer to her neighborhood. She needed to hurry back.

Wal-Mart was in complete chaos. Walkers were crowding the store. There weren't as many as you would think, but there were enough to make Regina uncomfortable. She chose to park a ways away and go in through the plant nursery. The Wal-Mart employees seemed to have blocked the front entrance the best they could.

The walkers were, of course, in Wal-Mart. But there were also people—normal people—running around, leaving without paying and such. The surviving employees didn't even protest. In fact, they were ransacking the place as well.

Regina decided to call them survivors based off of the knowledge from playing her cousins in _Left 4 Dead_ at family occasions. Some of the survivors easily became one of the Walkers, but others fought and they got what the hell they needed then left.

She found a cart. Regina began to think of this as a race against time. Mentally, she went over the things she needed. Canned and dry food was a given, medical items, bottled water, batteries, flashlights, toiletries, undergarments, books, cans of gas, warm clothes, walkie talkies.

Regina got most things without a problem, especially the warm clothes. It was too warm for most people to worry about warm clothes, but Regina thought they could save the warm clothes in addition to the clothes the already had for when it did get cold and when it became summer once again, they'd just rip them up appropriately. Hopefully it wouldn't last as long as she was making it out to be, but you could never be too careful.

The canned food was a bit of a problem. Regina had to pull the gun from her boot to threaten a woman with a bat who tried to jump her for her supplies. She wasn't going to shoot her; she merely wanted to scare her off. After Regina used the woman as an example to other survivors, they left her alone and she began throwing anything and everything remaining into her basket.

Upon reaching the cereal aisle, there was a gunshot and from her spot, Regina could see the few walkers that were able to get in move toward the sound.

Regina noted how well they paid attention to sound. When Ferrera turned up the music in the car earlier, the Zom—walkers were on Regina's car like white on rice. Whenever someone shot off their gun in the Wal-Mart, the walkers would respond and go toward the sound.

She continued throwing things like applesauce, granola bars, cereal, and whatever else she could into her basket. There was a bloodcurdling scream from the direction of the gunshot, "Oh, God, please!"

Regina winced, hoping to ignore the shrieks, and rushed away from the sound of a man's shriek toward the medical items and toiletries. _Don't play the hero, Gina._ She reminded herself in a mantra. Similar screams of agony echoed throughout Wal-Mart.

Both aisles were halfway picked clean. She grabbed everything that she thought she needed; she grabbed all of the high and low quality things that were left like Pantene and the cheap store brand shampoo and conditioner, body wash and soaps.

She eventually tied another basket to her first and used it to carry the luxury items like books and toys to keep Daniel and Ferrera preoccupied. It was a lot harder to maneuver. She had gotten a stack of CDs for the car in case they had to resort to being on the road. Regina had no idea how long they would be cooped up in that house.

The Latina managed to get one small tin can of gas in the auto shop out back, where she had to shove a zombie off of her, but she couldn't bring herself to shoot. Thank God that their speed was not very fast at all. It seemed as if the Wal-Mart had yet to restock this part of the store.

The more time that she spent in Wal-Mart, the more crowded and chaotic it seemed to get and once someone got shot over a box of paper towels; Regina figured it was time to leave. She tried her best to inconspicuously go out the way she came in and she was almost successful.

The moment she reached the automatic door of the plant Nursery, she was tackled to the ground. Looking up in fear, Regina caught herself thinking that she would have rather fought a shopper over paper towels.

Regina attempted to hold back the female walker as it groaned in her face. For something so slow, it sure had the strength to make up for it. She braced her left forearm against its neck and her right shin against its stomach so she could reach down for her 9 millimeter.

_Click. Bang!_

The Walker fell to the ground, bleeding profusely through its cranium.

Regina could only stare. She killed a person. She did that—murdered someone's sister, someone's daughter, someone's mother. No… She acted in self defense, right? Besides, it wasn't even living anymore, right?

Right.

_God forgive me…_

Regina pulled the carts as quickly as she could and the zombies were still attempting to get into Wal-Mart at the father end. There were several bangs from inside of the megastore and the zombies seemed entranced by the sound. She was good to get to her car.

The items took up all of the trunk and half the back seat. She closed the trunk as quietly as it would allow her and her rushed into her car to close the door. The slamming of her car door attracted some of the attention of the zombies. How in the hell did that attract their attention, yet a gunshot didn't? Was it because of the distance? Damn.

She drove out of there before any of them could reach her.

The Latina reached Westbrook within half an hour. There were zombies surrounding the gate. Regina cursed. She needed to open the gate by punching in a code, but she couldn't let those beasts in. Havoc surely would ensue on the so far gated community.

She knew what she needed to do, but it would be as risky as putting her head in a lion's mouth.

Taking a deep breath to relax herself, Regina cocked her gun and allowed the window to slide open. The zombies were gathering upon hearing the sound of the purring engine of the car and the beeping of Regina hitting the buttons of the keypad.

The double beep responding to Regina's correct code put a small smile on her face and the gate began to wheel itself open. The zombies were close—too close. She began to unload the rest of the clip into whatever zombie that was within four feet of her until—

_Click! Click!_

No bullets. She ran out of fucking bullets. Well, her luck had to run thin at one point, huh? Up until now, she had been extremely lucky—her home's placement in a gated community, the guns, her having little to no problems in the grocery store and not to mention all of the "free" items she had in her back seat.

The gate was open and walkers began to try and limp or drag themselves in. Regina rammed her foot on the gas and ran over whatever was in her way causing a bumpy ass ride. She found herself morbidly thinking.

_Twinkle, twinkle you won't go far_

_I'll run you the fuck over in my car._

It was dark out and the only light within the house was Danny's toy camping lantern that he had received with his tent for Christmas now. They were watching some Apocalyptic Tips on the Discovery Channel since for some reason, the broadcasting studio thought it was appropriate to continue to show reruns at a time like this after saying "It's crucial our audience is aware of what to do in times like these."

The power cut out around seven and Ferrera found herself cuddling on the couch with Danny in hopes of some type of entertainment. She was tempted to use her iPod, but she knew she needed to save that fully charged battery. Who knew when she would be able to charge anything again?

The moans and groans of the dead had grown louder since Regina had left and she was on edge, afraid that if they got past the gate the boards Regina put up around the house wouldn't hold.

Danny fiddled with one of his action figures—Iron Man, if she had her superheroes right—before looking up to Ferrera, "Mama's not home yet."

Ferrera sighed. She told herself she wasn't worried at all, but there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her that maybe Regina wasn't alright—maybe her sister wasn't as strong as she made people think and the walkers had gotten to her. If that happened, it would be up to her to get Danny to safety or protect him.

She wasn't ready to die yet. Not that way. Just the mere thought of her being ripped apart by the walkers and then becoming one terrified her enough to want to fight as long as she could stand it. Actually, the dying part made her squirm, while being a walker didn't bother her too much.

Ferrera squeezed him to her body more and rubbed his arm, "She'll be home soon. Your mama is one stubborn lady. She ain't goin' anywhere."

Danny nodded and his aunt felt him relax. Ferrera wasn't even sure her words were true, but if it gave Danny any hope, she'd repeat them over and over again.

Ferrera began to talk in a rhythm, "_There she was just a-walking down the street, singing 'do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo'…" _Danny listened to his aunt sing random bits of songs as his memory began to remember the broken up lyrics filling the silence.

The teen was on her thirteenth random song when the screeching mechanics of the garage echoed into the house. Regina!

She didn't allow Danny to run to the garage until the screeching stopped for the second time. They rushed to the door in time to watch Regina slam her bloody car door shut. Danny whimpered. He never did like the sight of blood.

"Lights out?" Regina questioned upon sight of them. Ferrera nodded as her sister stepped in front of them. Ferrera could see the large mountain of supplies that crowded the truck's trunk and back seat. Not only did her sister survive, but she got awfully lucky.

"Water, too?" She received a nod in return. Regina grumbled and bit her lip. How long would they be able to camp out in their home? It was at least until the water began to run thin, then it would be time to go.

Regina brushed past them into the house, Daniel following quickly behind her. Regina thought he would have at least given her a hug, but little Daniel was too afraid to even touch his mother with all of the blood covering her. The woman noticed and went to go change.

Ferrera and Daniel walked into Regina's room just as she was putting on her shirt. "I haven't heard from mama or dad," Ferrera sat on her bed as Regina used a wet rag to wipe off the remaining fluid. She tossed the rag to the side instead of dipping it back into her sink water. The water needed to remain free of things like that in case they needed to drink it.

"Damn…" Regina didn't know what to do as far as her parents were involved. They lived in Virginia, but she wasn't leaving her home to go and find them. She couldn't. It was too much of a risk covering that type of distance, especially if this wasn't only happening in Georgia.

Once she was cleaned up, Daniel jumped into Regina's arms and she chuckled. "I missed you mama," he told her. Daniel was indeed a mama's boy. Regina kissed his forehead, "I missed you too, baby."

Regina decided to hold up in the house until the food they already had before she ventured to Wal-Mart and the water ran out. They would not touch the food in the trunk until the very last crumb in the pantry was gone. Until then, it would be as if the food was never there. That food would be saved for when they needed to hit the road.

"Hey, Gina…"

Regina groaned at her sister's call, "What, Chachi?"

"I've seen a great movie about stuff like this. Wanna know what it's called?"

"What, Chachi? What was it called?" Regina chided with mock patience.

"Zombieland." Her tone said it all. Her older sister could already tell that she would be spewing random zombie apocalypse movies for days.

"A-_fucking_-mazing, Chachi. You're so brilliant."

"Swear jar, Mama!"

Regina prayed to God that night that things would blow over quickly and that he would forgive her for having to kill those...things—the walkers. She prayed that He would watch over her mother and father in Virginia and her own family right there in Georgia. She prayed that He would keep them safe.

* * *

Author's Corner: I know it took two days for things to get really bad in the Walking Dead Game, but that's just it. When people think every thing's gone to hell, shit hasn't even hit the fan yet and Regina will learn this soon.

Regina had gotten unbelievably lucky in this first chapter, huh? Y'know, with the food and all? Eh, wasn't too happy with that ending.

**Constructive criticism is welcome**.


	2. Masquerade

_Hello again. I figured Sunday is a day where barely anything goes on, so I finally plucked the courage to update this chapter so you all can have some type of entertainment whether it is to laugh at my novice writing skills or to actually enjoy the story._

* * *

_Masquerade_

* * *

One would think neighbors would come together to help each other out in an end of the world situation, but Westbrook did almost the exact opposite. Regina never knew how shady the residents could be until several days into the Walker Apocalypse. In the beginning, everyone helped each other and the gated community even had a well organized plan to take care of the entrance.

There were only a few people who owned guns in Westbrook and their names were Ernest Baker, Spinelli Haul, Fletcher Muller, and Regina Garcia herself. These people were voted to be lookout at Westbrook's front gate. They all decided to take on this job in shifts. The gate was pretty sturdy, so it was a very low possibility the Walkers would be able to break though. They were sure that one person would be enough for the job at one time.

People who had an abundance of food were the ones to share such as Kain Ottawa, Pearl and Oliver Rollo, and Phillip Christophe. Regina decided to never say anything about her food supply in the trunk of her car. She wanted to keep the promise she made to herself of not cracking into that supply until they had run out of food in the house. She would share the water she had in her home, but not anything else. There were suspicions of others who were also hoarding food from the rest of the community and the leader had already caused hell trying to point fingers.

Regina had already done her shift for the day, leaving Ernest Baker, a redneck down the street, in charge of the gate for his shift for the night. The next morning, Regina received a few bangs on the front door. Ferrera was the one to open it to a frantic skinny, sickly looking woman from across the street, Francesca Darling. She was a loon in Ferrera's opinion, yet Regina was still friends with the woman. She shook like a very nervous Chihuahua. Ferrera assumed she was on meth or something.

"I-is Regina ho-home?" The woman with thin hair questioned. Was it a forgotten detail that she stuttered as much as a politician caught in a lie? She sounded panicked. Francesca stepped into the house without permission.

Ferrera rolled her eyes. No one was leaving the neighborhood, so where the hell else would Regina be if she wasn't at her post? "Nah, she's shot herself in the head. Regina's dead." Ferrera's tone was sarcastic and blunt, but apparently, Francesca couldn't take the hint.

The woman nearly began crying when Regina shoved Ferrera to the side and stepped in front her neighbor, "Please ignore the big mouth _child_." Ferrera had the feeling her older sister was speaking to her and not Francesca. Regina wrapped a delicate arm around Francesca, knowing her condition, and led her to the kitchen as the sickly woman attempted to put together a coherent sentence.

The Latina hushed her, "Sh, Sh… Calm down and breathe," Francesca took a deep breath, "Now, what's wrong?"

"E-Er-Ernest! Th-those little terrors—"Regina had not a single clue on who she was speaking of. She motioned for Francesca to sit at the kitchen table. The woman sat and began to speak, "That J-Jordan Patrick and his fr-friends thought it would be a g-good idea to taunt th-those walkers at the gate when Ernest went to check on Lydia since sh-she looks like she's r-ready to h-have her b-baby. One of those m-middle school boys ended up getting b-bitten! N-No! He was basically eaten!"

Earlier in the week, the Leader, Wyatt George, had an argument with the co-leader, Leon Marx, about if those boys were nothing but fragilities and if they should be booted from Westbrook. Every parent stood their ground in saying no. Those boys were merely kids after all, and that sympathy that the parents felt for those kids was eventually Westbrook's downfall.

Francesca continued, "Er-Ernest came back, but he couldn't bring himself to sh-shoot Ricky after he was b-bitten. He tried to con-convince everyone that maybe it wasn't a bite that did it. But in the time it took for him to convince Wyatt and argue off J-Jordan, Ricky g-got u-up off the ground and bit Ernest and three others! Wyatt just took off a-and left!" Francesca was frantic and she was clearly panicking. "I al-always knew Wyatt was a- a little bitch! I-I warned y-you all about choosing him as the leader! Now Westbrook is goin' to go d-downhill!"

Regina opened and closed her mouth. How does one respond to that?

Ferrera had been eavesdropping around the corner. Jordan had been one of her friends and she used to hang out with Ricky back before she got into high school. It's hard to believe that someone so active and so energetic could become as slow and brain dead as those walkers. Wait… that meant the walkers were now within the gates of Westbrook.

Ferrera had a feeling now would be the true test of the house's defenses. She heard a chair scrape against the hardwood floor, "I'll go get my gun," she heard Regina say. Turning around the corner, Ferrera could see Francesca lunge forward to grab her sister's arm. "R-Regina, no! D-don't go out th-there and play the h-hero! Y-you'll run a risk w-way too high!"

Regina pressed a hand to Francesca's shoulder, "If we let them roam too long, then the dead will eventually win. Fran, they will get into people's houses and make more of them. It's best if we get rid of them now—"

"Those people would be smart enough to put up defenses or leave!" Francesca's eyes suddenly widened and she stood up. Her sick father was still in her home—a home that had no defense whatsoever, "Daddy!" She then sprinted past Ferrera and out the door.

Regina stood in frozen silence. Francesca, no matter how sick she was in the first place, took in her ill and delusional parents to live with her. She cared about them dearly and they were the only people she had since she was unable to bear children. Regina would know since she stuck by Francesca through a miscarriage. That woman had been through way more in life than Regina could even fathom. It would take hours just to relay all of the things Francesca has gone through. All she needed was a friend to help and Regina was happy to be that friend during her time in Westbrook.

Regina rushed to the front door, gun in hand. Ferrera ran upstairs to tell Daniel to remain in his bedroom. Regina paused at the door as the scene before her told her she was too late to save Francesca or Fran's mother and father. In the middle of the street, the sickly woman was too weak to fend off burly Ernest and Garrett, the high school star basketball player. They tore into her right where she stood.

It's ironic how Regina had heard many bloodcurdling screams echo in the night or even during her endeavor in Wal-Mart, but Francesca's was the one the she would never forget. It was literally the one that burned itself into her mind. Up until that point, Regina had never been so downtrodden. She wasn't just watching some random person being eaten by a walker. It was her friend—one of her greatest friends.

She was pulled from her reverie when she realized the walkers were advancing toward her home, leaving Francesca's mangled body on the cement. Ferrera was the one to slam the door and lock the top lock. The teen then moved behind the dining room table, "Help me move this!"

Together, the two Latinas shoved the heavy mahogany table in front of the door. Regina had never been more grateful to her grandparent's will than right then. They were the ones to leave their dining room set to her and it made one hell of a blockade in this case.

They stepped back to get a better view of their blockade, then they turned to each other. Ferrera gave an expecting glance, "So what now?"

Regina relaxed her furrowed eyebrow as she tried to gather her thoughts. When she spoke, she was nothing but a stuttering mess, "I-I guess w-we wait." And then she felt hot tears falling down her cheeks. She had just watched a friend in need be torn alive. And she let it happen. Regina felt like a horrible person.

Ferrera held a bewildered look upon her face and she watched her older sister sit back on the staircase and cry as silently as she could. The teen's eyes traveled up to the top of the stair case. Danny looked terrified as he gripped onto the railing. She was positive the four year old heard Ms. Fran's ear ringing cries. The moans of the walkers were close and the screams that echoed throughout Westbrook were muffled by the walls of the Garcia family's home. The dead sounded like they were having a successful invasion.

"Is Mama okay?" He asked his aunt. Regina's head shot up and swirled around quickly looked back at her son. Daniel's eyebrows were knitted together, his eyes twice their normal size, "Are we gonna see those scary people again?"

The look her son held made her last tear fall as she realized that she needed to keep it together. It may sound heartless, but Francesca was merely one person. The Latina had more important things to worry about.

Regina would need to keep living—to continue to be strong for Ferrera and Daniel. She was Daniel's mother. She needed to protect him. Regina didn't like to think that all of those hours in painful labor were for Daniel to only die so young in the end. She refused to let all that pain to give life be futile. Ferrera also still needed her older sister to watch her back. What else are older siblings for?

Regina could watch the walkers get anyone else—not these two. They were her responsibility. She may have lost a friend, but if she lost those two, her whole foundation would give out.

"Yes, I'm alright, Daniel. Go find your bag that your auntie packed and bring it downstairs, please, baby," Regina ordered.

Daniel rushed to go find his green backpack in his room. Regina stood on the step she was sitting on, "Ferrera, go get your things, too."

Ferrera raised an eyebrow, "We leavin'?"

Regina shook her head, "No, we're gonna stick it out here until everything's gone. The house is pretty sturdy right now. I just need to make sure we've got everything for a quick getaway."

Ferrera smirked, "I am so glad you turned out to be the sister that overanalyzes things. That little habit of yours has saved our asses." Her smirk turned into a genuine smile, "Thanks, Gina."

"For what?"

Ferrera didn't say thank you much, so Regina was sure she meant it whenever she said so. The only thing about it was that Regina had no idea what the teen was thankful to her for.

Ferrera actually had plenty to thank her older sister for. When her parents had gotten sick of her disobedience in Virginia, Ferrera's only choices were to go out in the real world and 'be the adult she so claimed she was' according her mother, or she could go live with Regina until she got her act together. Ferrera was terrified of being on her own, so she chose the latter. Regina could have said no and allowed her parents to toss her out on the streets, but she didn't.

Her older sister took her in and was currently in the process of straightening her out—not that it mattered much in anymore in a zombie apocalypse (it was easy to see that it wouldn't be long before humanity would get out of hand and anything goes for those who wished to live). If it weren't for Regina, Ferrera would probably be in the streets turned into a walker at that very moment.

Ferrera felt cliché just uttering the words, "For everything," before sprinting up the stairs to get her things.

They had spent two weeks in the house. Two weeks, and nearly half of all of Westbrook were walkers. Now, Westbrook was a pretty big community, so the walker count could be around a hundred to one hundred and fifty. Regina waited for someone to have the balls to take the first few out in the beginning, yet no one had and the population grew at a rampant pace. Regina would have done it herself, but Francesca's words reminded her that maybe playing the hero wasn't the brightest idea.

The family of three now slept in Regina's bed together. It gave each of them comfort to know the other two were so close. The night was dark as Daniel, Ferrera and Regina were asleep. _Thunk!_

Although she was the deepest sleeper out of the three, Ferrera was the first to hear the noise. She was much too tired to question it. The teen dropped her head back down to the pillow and turned away from Danny.

_Scratch… Scratch…_ Daniel's eyes snapped open and he shot up in the bed. He looked around the spacious master bedroom and saw nothing. There was a creek downstairs. Daniel knew what created the noise because it was how his mother always caught him sneaking into the kitchen at night. It was a loose floorboard in the kitchen beside the garage.

He roughly shook his mother awake and Regina jumped slightly with a snore. "You've gotta go to the bathroom now?"

Daniel shook his head, "No, someone's downstairs!"

Regina shot up similar to the way Daniel had and reached under her bed for the briefcase of guns. As quietly as she could, she retrieved more bullets and her pistol. She shook Ferrera awake.

"What?" The younger girl was cut off when the handle of another pistol bounced off her stomach. Regina threw back the blankets, "It should be easy to use. Like a camera, you point and shoot, got it?"

Ferrera was confused, "Huh?" She asked as clueless as someone could be in this situation. Her sister had just randomly thrown a gun at her and gave her directions to use it. Was this a joke?

"I think someone's in the house. I need you to back me up." Regina explained.

It doesn't need to be said that the look on Ferrera's face was one of pure excitement. She'd always wanted to use a gun and if it was as easy as Regina made it out to be, she was going to have plenty of fun with this.

"Daniel, stick close to me." The little boy nodded, but Regina gave him a look, "No, baby, I want you to play shadow right now. That's how close and quiet you need to be, 'kay?" Daniel pressed himself up against his mother's side. Regina smirked, "There you go."

Grogginess aside, Regina led the way. As they walked down the stairs, the rustling grew noisier and there were harsh whispers coming from the kitchen. It was a given that someone or some_thing _was in their home.

Daniel warned his mother and aunt which steps made sounds when they were stepped on. Because of him, they made it down the staircase without a single sound. Regina glanced back and observed Ferrera's stance. She could already tell Ferrera was going to have a hard time handling a gun. She hoped to God that she was just misinterpreting her younger sister.

Regina motioned for the two to stay behind as she peeked around the corner. There were three figures rummaging through her cabinets and taking things into a trash bag. Regina rounded the corner, gun poised to shoot. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

In the dim moonlight through the boarded up window, she could make out the three figures that froze upon sight of her. Wyatt, Sven, and Marco were the ones robbing her things.

Ferrera had never seen Regina get so angry so quickly. "Fran said you were a little bitch. Shoulda paid attention."

Wyatt was an attractive man for a gangly fucker. He had a strong jaw line, black hair and green eyes. The stubble around his chin made him look even easier on the eyes. He glared, "I may be a little bitch, but you are a selfish cunt."

Regina cocked her gun, "The hell are you talkin' about?"

Sven was a pudgy blonde man. Regina had to admit watching him get riled up was amusing because the color of red he turned shouldn't be humanly possible. "The food, Regina! The fuckin' food! We know you've been holding out on us. Jessica saw you get back with that truck of food. Ain't no way that you got done with it that fast, so just share and we won't have to kill you."

Share or give up the food? She picked neither and chose to play oblivious. Regina scoffed, "What food?"

Marco held his weapon, a knife, ready to lunge at the Latina, "Stop playing stupid, Regina. You're an attorney for Christ's sake. You're not stupid."

Ferrera rounded the corner after placing the gun in her back pocket. Regina told her walkers were attracted to noise, so the last thing she needed was the walkers busting through the windows because she got trigger happy. "Okay, okay. You've got us beat, Wyatt," She held her hands up in surrender. What the fuck was this little girl doing? Ferrera casted Regina an inconspicuous glance from the side of her eye and nudged her head toward the basement door.

"It's all in the basement. There's a cooler down there," Ferrera said. Regina kept her mouth shut simply because Ferrera was easily the best liar in the family. She knew her little sister could act the part of a scared little girl—like in horror movies. She's seen her do it before.

Wyatt pressed his rusty weapon, a pipe, at the teen's stomach and Ferrera let out a small gasp, "I'm far from kidding, kid. I find out you're lying and best believe that this pipe will be lodged through your head."

Despite his words, Ferrera could see his bluff. Wyatt was a coward—he always had been. She wanted to call bullshit so badly, but in order to keep Regina and Daniel safe, she needed to play the blockhead.

The pipe eased away from Ferrera's gut and she breathed out a breath she had been holding. Wyatt and Marco were the ones who went to go down the basement after taking Regina's gun. Sven held the two at the point of a machete as he watched his partners descend the wooden staircase, "I've got to make sure you two don't try anything."

Regina almost smirked. They forgot about Daniel.

The said boy poked his curly haired head around the corner to peep at the situation. He was just out of Sven's sight to the man's left. Ferrera locked eyes with Daniel and moved her eyes toward the back of Sven's legs to Daniel and to the back of Sven's legs once more. Daniel responded with a confused look and Ferrera continued her gesture. Sven noticed.

"Do you—" He turned around to see what Ferrera was looking at. There was no one. He whipped his head back to the two Latinas, "—got a twitch or something? Stop that!"

The little boy finally understood—or he hoped he did. Daniel cautiously moved around the corner, slowly and surely making it across the floor on all fours to get behind Sven's legs.

The two Latinas took a step toward Sven, Ferrera reaching into her back pocket. Sven reacted with a cautious step backward. He glanced back to make sure he wouldn't fall down the steps when a head of curly hair on the floor caught his attention. He had no time to kick the kid. The moment his gaze was away from them, the sisters lunged forward and shoved him over Daniel and down the stairs.

Ferrera pulled Daniel to his feet as she heard the commotion in the basement. It sounded like the men were attempting to climb their way up. Regina slammed the door and braced herself against it, "Ferrera, I'm getting sick of having to block these doors. Go find something," one of the intruders tried to shoulder barge the door and Ferrera ran toward the foyer where the furniture was stacked up.

Regina then pushed the door back from another impact before turning to her child, "Daniel, go get mommy's briefcase and my keys, please. I need you to run. _Fast._" Daniel took off as the scraping of furniture was heard against the wood flooring in the foyer.

Regina was struggling with containing Wyatt, Marco, and Sven when Ferrera shoved in the heavy TV stand. She helped her sister push it in front of the door and they stepped back to breathe. Daniel stumbled into the kitchen with his arms full of things like Regina's boots that she now wore on a constant basis, Ferrera's Nikes, the briefcase was hanging from his fingers, his Iron Man action figure clenched between his teeth, and the car keys were gripped in his other hand.

"We're leaving now?" Ferrera questioned, taking her shoes from Daniel. There was a bang on the door and the crack that sounded afterwards did not sound very good either, "You can't leave us down here, Garcia!"

Oh, not only would the woman leave them down there. She didn't think she would be coming back in a long time—if not ever. Ferrera kicked the wall beside the blocked door, "You guys better hope the windows we blocked down there hold up. Otherwise, if you don't die from hunger, you'll die by the walkers. Bye, bye!"

Wyatt used the gun he took from Regina to shoot through the door and the bullet made it through the barricade and put a hole in one of the cabinets. Ferrera wasn't expecting that so she became startled and ran out of the garage door.

The family piled into the car, the food untouched in the back.

"Momma, why are we leaving?"

Regina opened the garage and locked the doors, "There's nothing left for us here, baby." Walkers began to flood the garage and Regina looked at the walking dead that slapped their hands against the vehicle. Even though Regina tried to act normal about it, it freaked her out so much more than the kids.

During their stay in their home, Regina had come to the conclusion that it would be best to go to the shore if it had to come down to it. She had some relatives who lived on a small farm near Savannah. She also was hoping that perhaps that's where the military forces would be—fighting their way in. She had always wanted to visit the coast anyway. She'd figure out what to do from there. However, she had no idea how far a tank and a half of gas would take them. She was only able to grab one gas can in Wal-Mart. Hopefully it would take them far enough.

Regina made sure the kids were settled in, having a feeling this would be the last time they would see their home again. She had saved up for so long for that nice house only for her to have to leave it behind in the end. Such a beautiful waste the house was.

"Let's go, mommy…!" Daniel said desperately from the back seat as he gripped his Iron Man action figure. The noises of the walkers throughout the days scared him—if not traumatizing his small underdeveloped mind. They were so close, and although his mommy told him they couldn't get to them, he was still paranoid that they would get in when he wasn't paying attention—while he was sleeping. He didn't want to worry anymore. He just wanted to play with his friends again. He wanted to play _outside_ again.

"Let's get the hell away from here," Ferrera commented. Daniel didn't even comment on the curse word that passed her lips.

Regina switched the Ford Endeavor to reverse, "You need to learn to watch your mouth, Chachi. Daniel, look in my bag and choose whatever CD you like. This is going to be a long ride." The little boy searched his mother's bag of clothes as she backed out of the garage into a crowd of walkers.

Ferrera locked the doors as she looked out the window at the walkers solemnly. These walkers—these _people_—were once people who she was able to talk to, ask for help. Now, they were mindless and brain dead monsters who were currently trying to beat at the car weakly in an attempt to turn her and her family into one of them.

Daniel glanced out the window. Jamie, Leo, Travis, Chris, Riley… They were all his friends, but why were they growling at him? They knew he didn't like to play scary games! Daniel casted his eyes into the bag so he would be able to ignore the scary people. His mother drove forward, hitting anything in her way.

Regina drove, never stopping. She didn't even stop for the old couple on the side of the street. She wanted to, 'cause Lord knows it wouldn't be the Christian thing to do, but she was coming to realize that maybe she needed to only look out for herself and her family. The dead may be trying to eat them alive, but at least they knew what the dead is capable of. It's the living that Regina needed to be cautious of. They were much too smart—much too shady.

Perhaps not all of the survivors were like Wyatt, but Regina had to treat them cautiously just as a precaution. People like Wyatt were the real threat—the people masquerading around as if they were on your side then turn on you in a split second when shit goes to hell.

The family of three left their home in an attempt to find a safer haven. Hopefully, that haven would reside in their originally intended location. Regina was sure her family would be fine as long as there were no unexpected twists in their story. As long as Ferrera and Daniel were with her and she was with them, she was sure they would be okay.

**_Hold my hand_**

**_Oh, baby, it's a long way_**

**_Down to the bottom of the river_**

**_Hold my hand_**

**_Oh, baby, it's a long way down,_**

**_A long way down_**

* * *

**Author's Corner.**

Regina is still seemingly lucky, but the point in this chapter is that she needed to come to the realization of what her priorities were. Her lucky streak runs for another chapter and she will meet the Motor Inn Survivors next chapter, but after that...

I've been hoarding this chapter for a couple weeks trying to improve it. I've read through it time and time again to correct it so it could make sense, but it still doesn't seem to flow right to me.

I never plan out what I write because it seems a lot more spontaneous and emotional when I just type it out, but the con to that is that the thought process seems so jumbled up to me.

So I will leave the **_WELCOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM_** to the reviews.

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**Review Response.**

_Ela Black_: The align in this chapter is just for you. I like to make the people who take the time to read my stories happy. Also, I hope that I have still given you reason to stick around to the very end. :D

_Watanuki-kun_: First off, can I say that I absolutely love it when my reviewers-no, my friends ask me questions like that? If I ever run into a stump, I'll refer to the questions to get ideas. I literally typed out an entire chapter (this one) just to answer those questions.

It was originally going to be the first few paragraphs saying what happened with Westbrook, but I felt that wouldn't really leave it feeling like the Walking Dead Game to just skip an important detail (Well, other than when Mark joined the group). I feel as if in order to feel with the characters, you need to experience the journey with them, which is the reason why I feel so attached to the game itself. I'm trying to live up to that feeling that the Game gave its players, but I still have plenty to learn in order to do that.

I hope I lived up the heartwarming compliment that you have given me. Thank you for the review.

_StephyCoCo89_: Hahaha, yeah. Regina is the type to over analyze things-couple that with the amazing luck she's having and I guess she has been pretty prepared. I appreciate the wonderful compliment and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)

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Holy shit... I feel so proper with those responses, but thank you guys! Your reviews mean a lot to me.


	3. Blunder

Author's Intro: Thank you all who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I means a lot to me. Thank you and enjoy!

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Blunder

* * *

Daniel chose random CDs, one of them with Maxwell. He liked singing, and Maxwell was someone he favored just as much as Ferrera favored Alicia Keys or his mother favored Luther Vandross.

They got onto the highway with half a tank of gas. Not a sign of life, only car wrecks and a few scattered bodies. Farther down the highway was where the walkers began to appear.

Ferrera glanced around as her sister attempted to drive slow in order to keep the engine from sounding too loud, so the walkers wouldn't be attracted. They still heard the engine regardless and began to limp in the general direction of the vehicle, but the car continued to roll onwards. Regina hit so many Walkers that the hood of the car was becoming dented and she rammed one so hard getting out of the neighborhood that the windshield had a mighty crack running from the left top corner to the middle of the right side.

The teen noted that in the week they had been cooped up in their home in solitude, the world had suffered absolute hell on Earth. When she watched the news with Daniel a month before, they called Atlanta a level 9 on the disaster scale. They lived pretty close to the city, so that explained the massive amount of Walkers. Maybe if they got away from the city, they would be safe.

Daniel looked out of the window at the Walkers devouring a small dog. His eyebrows furrowed and he nearly vomited.

_Is this what life would be like from now on?_ Regina found herself asking._ Running and fighting?_ She really didn't want to receive and answer. They would need to find someplace stable to be.

Macon was as far as that tank and a half of gas was going to take them. There were so many blocked roads that Regina needed to backtrack plenty of times and find other ways. Daniel and Ferrera were sleeping when the car stopped.

Regina cursed and reached over to shake Ferrera awake. Ferrera threw a menacing, groggy glare her sister's way, "_What?_" She hissed.

"Wake up and watch who you're talking to. This is as far as this is taking us."

"Uh, no," Ferrera scoffed with a froggy throat. Regina smacked Ferrera's arm, "Uh, yes…!" She mocked, "Now get out the car."

The two climbed from the car to look at their surroundings. The slamming of the car doors made Daniel jump awake and stare out his window.

There were trees to their right and a few buildings to their left. Cars littered the road as if their owners just got out and abandoned them, which they probably did.

A loud bang startled the sisters back into the car, Ferrera locking the doors. A few more bangs sounded through the windows and the sisters waited. They jumped when a woman broke through the trees running. She stopped to look around, her gun poised in her hand, before she started to take off in the opposite direction of Regina's car.

Seeing an actual human being, Regina opened the door and called out, "Excuse me!" She wouldn't have stopped to talk if there was gas in the car, but there wasn't and now the Latina needed help. Strangers were the last people who she wanted to speak to—you know, after what happened with Wyatt. Regina prayed mentally that this person wasn't a too bad of a person.

As stated before: people were as unpredictable as the walkers themselves. The only contradicting thing about that is in order to survive, one must depend on others. If Ferrera and Daniel were depending on her, who was Regina meant to lean on? Depending on no one was certainly not an option. She'd come to the conclusion as she drove through Lagrange that she'd just needed to be more cautious of the people she trusted.

It was only one person she was asking for help, so she wasn't too worried about numbers as long as Ferrera was on guard.

The woman stopped dead in her tracks and seemed almost afraid to turn around. When she finally saw Regina standing over the door of her car, waving eagerly at her, she cautiously approached them.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see another living person," Regina started. The woman eyed her, "You're not bitten, are you?"

Regina stepped onto the pavement while shaking her head, "No, no!" The Latina lifted her shirt to her bust line and pulled up her sleeves while turning around, "I'm safe!"

The woman lowered her gun, but kept it firm in her grip. Ferrera climbed from the car and Daniel pushed the car door open and hopped down, running up to his mother to take her hand.

"Me and my family are safe!"

After a long, intense moment of silence, the woman held out her hand to shake, "I'm Carley."

Regina shook it with vigor, "Regina," she nodded in her sisters direction, "Ferrera," Regina wiggled her son's hand in her own, "Daniel."

Carley bent down to get eye to eye with Daniel, "Why, hello Daniel!" She smiled. Before Carley could receive a reaction from the kid, Ferrera crossed her arms and cleared her throat.

"_You _aren't bitten, are you?" The teen threw back. Carley stood full height and raised her hands in mock mercy, "I'm not. In fact, I'm with a group of people in the Motor Inn down the street. They are all uninfected."

There were more people? Well, there went the comfort of having an advantage on this woman in numbers. One part of her being told her to just go look for shelter on her own and forget about Carley and her group, but the other part was relieved there were other survivors. After miles of nothing but Walkers, she assumed maybe everyone was gone. Sure, perhaps there were a few survivors, but Regina didn't think she would come across them. If Carley wasn't bluffing, that meant there was a group of people who had survived this long without being bitten.

Regina was at a crossroad in her psyche. Should she continue and bear the burden of making it on her own with two kids, or should she ask for help? …Trial and error was a common trait for anyone, after all, so what the hell? "Can you take us to see the group? We need a place to sleep for the night so we can figure out what to do about our car."

Carley raised an eyebrow, "Just for the night?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, just until we figure out how to make it down to the coast," Regina responded.

Carley bit her lip as the silence of decision making ensued. "…Alright, follow me," she nudged her head over her shoulder toward the Motor Inn where the others were.

Carley was sure she wouldn't hear the end of it from Lilly, but these people didn't seem like a threat (It was merely a woman and two scrawny kids for Christ's sake!) and Carley could honestly say that the Motor Inn group had no valuables to take. With that as the justified reason in Carley's mind, she led the family of three back to the others at the Motor Inn.

* * *

She was right. The moment they arrived into the Motor Inn, Lilly glared at Carley and blew up at her. Carley was hardly even able to utter a word.

"No, no! I know what you're going to say and it's a no. Send them back to wherever they came from. We don't need any more mouths to feed, Carley! There are already too many of us to feed now! Stop making my job so fucking hard!" A woman with a hard face and brown hair pushed back behind her ears advanced on the woman in the purple jacket who introduced herself as Carley.

An old man with the biggest nose Ferrera had ever seen in her life scowled right beside the overbearing woman, "One of them could be bitten damn it! Did you ever check for that? No? Well, get them the fuck outta here."

Ferrera glared, "You can't be ugly and mean, Pinocchio. Those things just don't go together."

Larry took a step forward, "Say that again?" He threatened. Was he seriously threatening her? He was in no condition to act a hard ass. She smirked, _I can take him_. Ferrera opened her mouth to repeat herself when she received a slap to the back of the head, "Ow!" Regina gave a reprimanding look to her little sister. She needed to learn when to shut the fuck up. That man didn't seem like the one she should screw with.

Carley's eyebrows furrowed, "We can't just turn away people! Survivors are survivors, Lilly."

The woman called Lilly advanced to get in Carley's face. Why didn't they all just understand that a few alive was better than all of them dead? They couldn't just bring in outsiders! It could all be just some big scam. "If they stay, some of us will be starved to death, then, if that happens, I want you to look back and think whose fucking fault it really is."

A man sporting a type of goatee and a blue button up shirt stepped forward, pulling his hand out of an adorable little girl's grip. Regina squinted to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. He looked oddly like a man's profile picture that she was handed in a case file for work a few months back. It was a case that she had turned down. "Then that's a road we'll come across later, Lilly. They've got a kid with them! A kid like Clementine and Duck. You can't just tell them to leave."

If this all worked out, Regina would have to pay these two back somehow to thank them.

People in the Motor Inn crowded around or watched from where they sat. Ferrera scoffed and looked to her sister in disbelief. Were they turning away survivors? How fucked up! And they wouldn't be extra mouths to feed! …_Hot damn am I a genius_! Ferrera thought to herself.

Ferrera took Daniel's hand and wrapped her arm around Regina's shoulder and began leading them away to the gate they were building. "Jeez, all we needed was a place to settle for a bit…" Here's where her idea kicked in and it would only work if that woman (Carley, was it?) didn't call her bluff, "You know, sleeping in a Ford Endeavor full of food isn't exactly comfortable for three people, but I guess we'll just keep on our way to—"

Daniel's eyes widened at his aunt's words. They were leaving? But he wanted to play with the boy he saw! It had been so long since he had someone to play with—someone who _actually played _with him.

Regina nearly punched her sister in the mouth. In a place and time like this, you don't just tell others that you've got food! Especially when they outnumber you and you've insulted one of them! It was a miracle Carley didn't notice the food in the car. This woman didn't want extra mouths to feed so they'd point a gun to their head, have them lead the group back to the car, and shoot them so they'd have all of the food to themselves. Plus, they couldn't go anywhere in a car that's out of gas. That hunk of metal wasn't moving anywhere.

Despite the looks she was receiving from her family, Ferrera continued on with her psychology bluff. Well, it wasn't really a bluff. They had food, but they weren't going away anytime soon. She hoped that it wouldn't backfire.

And just like clockwork, the woman they called Lilly caved in, "You have food?" Ferrera mentally fist pumped, _Hook, line and sinker_. Ferrera turned and threw Lilly a reproachful look, "I don't know, Miss… Just like you said that we were extra mouths to feed, so are you guys. That would just make our supplies run out faster than if there were just three of us—"

"You can stay here," Lilly cut in, "But only if you've really got food. If I find out you're just fuckin' with us, you'll be kicked the hell out, got it?" It was for the group—for her father. She needed to let these people in primarily for the sake of her father and secondly to keep the group going. Lilly also knew that if she objected too long, Lee and Carley would continue to oppose her. Kenny would eventually back Lee up and Katjaa would stand behind her husband. She would lose some of her authority over the group and to ensure Larry's safety, she needed to be in charge.

Everyone who wasn't the Garcia family had to do a double take at Lilly. Did…Did she just cave in? Well, it was food—something they didn't have very much of after all. But even with food on the line, Lilly wasn't the one to give into something so quickly.

A man with a cap and a graying moustache rushed forward, "Wait, kid," His southern accent voiced, "You said you and your Mama here can leave in a truck full of food. There ain't somethin' right about what you said. If you have the food you say you've got and the car that's got gas, why did you stop here? Why didn't you just keep goin'?" Damn, it wasn't Carley that called Ferrera out on it.

Regina spoke for the first time since being within the confines of the Motor Inn, "Ferrera is my little sister. Daniel here," She placed a hand on the boy's head as he hugged her hips, "is my son," It would be best to set things right now before Ferrera has the chance to twist things into a rut, "We've come all the way from Villa Rica, stopping very little," Ferrera rolled her eyes. Her sister was using her Business Voice. "Now, we've run out of gas not too far from here. We're lucky Carley found us when she did or else we would be stuck in that car with food crowding us and no idea on where to go."

The man nodded as she continued, "We can't give you gas, but we can give you the battery of the truck and share our food if you let us stay here. I see you've got an RV over there. It doesn't look to be in any condition to drive."

When Regina saw Lilly begin to open her mouth, she intercepted, "Ferrera is sixteen, and Daniel is four." There, she played it—the guilt card. They wouldn't turn away mere kids, one of which hadn't even begun school yet.

Lilly's facial expression relaxed, "I was going to say, 'Who is going to make up the group that goes with them to their car?'"

Carley was the first to step forward, "I'll go. It's not that far anyway," She turned to the man who also had Regina's back against Lilly, "Lee?"

Now that name was familiar with the profile picture, but she couldn't exactly place the last name and the case—weather the person was the defendant or the plaintiff. No, wait, it had been a case given to her by the court.

Lee looked down at the little girl with pretty curly hair wearing a snapback and they shared a somewhat look of understanding before Lee looked Carley in the eyes again, "Yeah, I'll tag along."

The Latina reached into her boot where she kept her gun. She began to check the bullet count when Carley placed a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think we'll need that. The walkers may look like they aren't around, but one loud noise and I'm positive we'll be swamped by them."

The older man with a baseball cap walked off into the RV without a word. He reappeared shortly with something long, silver and glinting. Kenny handed Regina a pole and she raised an eyebrow, "What's this?" It was silver and thick aluminum. It looked like part of a towel rack.

Kenny rubbed shrugged, "When I was fixin' the RV, I pulled that out of the bathroom. It ain't nothin' important to the RV, but it looks like it can pack one hell of a punch if ya knock somethin' upside the head with it." Regina accepted the weapon, "Thank you."

Regina decided to leave the defenseless behind, "Ferrera, you stay here with Daniel. I'll be back soon." Upon hearing his name, Daniel clutched his Iron Man action figure. He tugged on his Mama's jacket and gave her the look where he bit the inside of his cheek, "You leaving, Mama?"

"Yeah, Mama's gotta go get all the cool things we left back in the car. They're important, you know," She spoke softly to him. A woman with blonde hair, blue eyes and meat on her bones reached out to shake Regina's hand, to which Regina did, "I'm Katjaa. My husband over there is Kenny, and the little boy is ours."

"I'm Duck!" The adorable brunette boy with freckles chimed. Ferrera nearly laughed out loud. What kind of a name was Duck? Why would they torture their own child with a name like that?

"Duck?" Ferrera choked on a laugh she held back. Kenny heard the judgment in her voice, "It ain't like you've got a fantastic name either. Sounds like it's a few letters off from Ferrari."

Ferrera scowled. Katjaa smiled a warming smile, "His real name is Kenny Jr. but we just call him Duck."

Katjaa, Kenny and Kenny Jr.? Their initials were basically the KKK. Ferrera decided Duck was better, Duck was _good_.

Katjaa gave a stressed smile to Regina, "They'll be well looked after here. I'll look after them until you get back, how's that?"

Regina gave a questioning look to which Katjaa responded, "I can see it in your eyes. You're wondering if leaving them here with us will be the best idea. It's a mother's natural instinct to question these things, but since I am a mother too, I think you'll be more at ease knowing that I've got them under my watchful eye."

Katjaa also being a mother didn't really mean anything to Regina. She was still a stranger, but seeing as she and her family—her son—had made it so far in such an apocalyptic world said plenty. Besides, if Katjaa wouldn't take care of Daniel, Ferrera would. The teen had never given up her gun from the ordeal with Wyatt and she kept it in her vest pocket. Regina knew that and that is what actually gave her the comfort to leave, not Katjaa. Regardless, Regina appreciated the effort and gave a tightlipped smile, "My name is Regina. Call me Gina if you like."

Carley began to walk away, "We should go now before it gets dark." Lee followed, giving a nod and a loose hug to the little girl after Kenny handed him his axe. Regina did the same to Daniel and Ferrera.

The group of three watched as the gate closed the best it could. It was still in its early stages of construction. They began to walk in the direction Carley had brought the family from. Regina decided to strike up a conversation with Lee, who walked in step with her otherwise it would have been an awkward walk. She might as well get to know them so she would have at least a slight idea of who she was going to be stuck in the Motor Inn with.

"Lee, right?" He hummed a response, "Thank you for saying something back there. She probably would have kicked us to the curb if it weren't for you and Carley."

Lee gave a nod, "Not a problem. I know if I was in your position—and I've kinda been there with Lilly and Larry—I'd want someone to say somethin' for me."

"Your little girl is adorable. Is her mother at the Inn too, or is she…?" Regina said. That wasn't right to say, so the Latina trailed off to correct herself, but she figured she needed to keep the rest to herself in order to not offend Lee.

Lee was getting tired of answering this question. He thought of how to answer it for what seemed like the fortieth time in the past few weeks. "I'm not her dad. When all of this went down," he motioned to their surroundings, "I found her. I just…wasn't going to leave her alone. She had been stuck up in her tree house for a while…all by herself." That's all he was going to say regarding how he and Clementine ended up with each other.

He could just feel Regina's stare. Lee already knew how the story sounded to outsiders. It made him seem like a pedophile or a kidnapper to others, but he stopped caring. All he knew is that he felt he did the right thing on taking Clementine into his care and he would continue to watch over her. Clementine was too sweet to fall to a world like this.

"What's her name?" Regina asked, skirting around the topic of suspicion in front of Carley.

Lee looked down at the shorter woman out the corner of his eye, "Clementine."

"He treats her great, Regina," Carley said, hearing the suspicion in her voice, "If he hadn't said anything, would you have really been able to tell?"

That was true, and Regina's thought process eventually led her to think that it was none of her business. She was merely a newcomer, after all. "So what did you two do before all hell let loose? I worked as an attorney."

Carley fell into step with the other two, seeing the white Ford Endeavor not too far away, "I was a reporter for WABE Atlanta."

Lee shrugged, "I used to teach up at UGA."

The facts began to piece themselves together in Regina's mind. A teacher for UGA with the name of Lee was in the Defendant side, there was a woman that was the witness to the crime by the name of Marlene Dale-Everett… Everett! Lee Everett! The reason Regina turned down the case was because it was a murder case. She didn't like the gruesome research. Lee Everett caught his wife in some R-Kelly Trapped in the Closet type of thing, went ape shit and killed the man—the senator—in the affair.

Regina knew how it felt to be cheated on. They may have not been married yet, but they had a child together. They were _going_ to be married. Regina didn't feel the hurt for herself as much as she felt it for Daniel. He was the one to find his father in the act. Because Daniel was the one to find Samuel, Regina hurt the woman and the man in the affair, but she didn't_ kill_ them. She wasn't so blinded by rage that she took their lives like Lee Everett had in his situation.

A killer had taken a little girl into his care. Now, maybe Regina should consider it her business. Maybe everyone else didn't know. Regina paused by the driver side of her car, "Lee…Everett?"

Lee raised an eyebrow. He didn't ever mention his last name, unless… Oh, shit. His memory just now repeated what she had said, "_I worked as an attorney."_

He needed to shut her down before she began running her mouth off to the others. "Look, I know what you're thinkin'. Carley has already talked to me about that—"

"But you're a murderer! It's only right of me to consider that little girl's safety!"

Carley glanced at Regina, "Regina, as I've said before, Lee treats Clementine well. He takes great care of her and he makes sure if things are okay with her. Never have I heard her complain about him once."

Regina began to think and decided on keeping her mouth closed after that. She'd wait until later—after they worked together to push the truck back to the Motor Inn.

Carley peered inside the car once they reached it, "How did I not see all of this? How'd you get so many supplies? I was sure everywhere had been picked clean."

Lee opened the door on the other side and looked into the back of the car, "Holy shit. This should set us for a while!" He closed the door and moved to place his hands on the back of the Ford, "It might be easier to move the entire car because of all the things in here," he suggested. Carley followed his lead and braced up against the back of the Ford, "Good thinking, Lee. Let's get moving." Regina pushed and steered the car from the side.

"The moment I realized something was wrong, I went an' looted Wal-Mart," She grunted back at them. Carley gave her praise, "Smart—risky, but smart."

"It's been weeks since then. You've seemed to ration it pretty good," Lee observed.

Regina's stomach growled in response. Despite having all of that food, she was trying to make it last. It didn't look like the world would return back to the world they knew anytime soon, so she didn't know when they'd run into food again. Regina rationed enough to keep them from starving, but as little as possible to prolong the supplies. The most they got in a day was equivalent to a bag of chips, fruit snacks, and crackers if Regina wasn't paying too much attention.

The Latina laughed dryly, "Yeah, I try."

They'd made it about a fourth of the way back to the Motor Inn, but the cars on the street gradually crowded together. "Maybe—" Carley grunted, "Maybe Lilly will let you be in charge of the food rations for everyone."

Lee scoffed, "I think she likes being the leader, Carley. Givin' someone else a job like that will mean things maybe not goin' her way."

Regina turned the wheels and pushed the door harder, "I think I can handle that. Besides, I brought it in the first place, so I don't believe she really has a say."

They had run into one crowd of walkers, but they took care of them without the use of a gun. They didn't need to attract anymore.

Watching Lee use his axe and Carley use a tire iron to get rid of those walkers made Regina really question what it takes to survive this. She had no physical strength like them to fend off the Walkers like that. She whacked several walkers and Carley saved her ass twice when she wasn't paying attention. Lee decapitated three of the undead and it made Regina think that maybe being a murderer wasn't so bad at a time like this. The sun was beginning to set when the three finally had made it to the entrance of the Motor Inn.

"'Ey, Kenny! Let us through!" Lee called. The gate opened wide with the effort of Ferrera, Katjaa and Kenny. Kenny smiled upon site of the contents of the car, "Hurry up before some of them walkers hear all of this noise ya'll are makin'," he chuckled.

Ferrera tossed a look at Lilly once the car was within 'safe' walls and the gate was closed, "So, um, what was that Lilly?" Ferrera said cockily as she crossed her arms, "'She's not gunna be here for long. I doubt they actually have the food'," Ferrera even included air quotes as if to mock the woman.

Upon hearing this, Regina cast a curious look to her sister, "When did she say this?"

Ferrera smirked, "When you left and Larry over there started running his mouth about me."

Daniel ran to his mother and began pulling on her hand away from Ferrera, "Look what Clementine helped me draw, Mama!" Regina let a smile cross her face. Daniel was happy and he didn't seem at all bothered by the walker gunk that was splattered on her. It was good to hear his laugh ring again. Her son had been too quiet for a long while. Was it because he felt alone?

The little girl, Clementine, was still adding onto the picture on the pavement, but Regina could already tell what it was—a sloppy stick figure with a red square and yellow lines sticking out of the stick figure's head while the figure was standing on top of a pile of green stick figures. "It's you, Mama!" The little girl moved over a bit to work on the picture she was drawing before.

Regina scooped him up into her arms, "Why is my hair yellow? My hair is brown, like yours!" Regina spoke. Daniel shrugged and pointed down to the mosh pit of green, "Clem helped me draw the hungry people." Regina looked over Clementine's shoulder at the new picture the girl was creating. The people weren't sticks, but they weren't a masterpiece either.

It was three people with big brown smiles—two of which had black scribbles protruding from their head. "What a pretty picture, Clementine. Who are you drawing?"

Clementine took her time in turning over her shoulder to look at Regina, "My family." She began pointing them out, "My mom, me and my dad. I remember a picture in our living room with all of us in it and I tried to draw it, but I can't really get it right…"

Regina shook her head as Daniel laid his head on her shoulder, "It looks amazing, darlin'." Clementine smiled before it disappeared quickly and she turned back to her chalk picture, "I want to get to see my mom and dad again. I miss them. I just hope they didn't just go back to my house to look for me…"

Regina didn't know how to respond to the little girl. She didn't want to lie about something like that. Regina had no idea if Clementine's parents were even still alive. Giving that girl false hope was just something she didn't want to do. It might keep Clementine back when she needed to keep moving on.

"They'll come lookin' for you, Clem," A gruff voice responded. Lee stood over Regina's shoulder, smiling down at Clementine. "Until then, I'll keep a look out for you. As long as you're with me, you're safe."

The adorable little girl's eyes lit up from just hearing those words, "You sure?"

Lee hummed in response, "It's getting' kinda dark out here, Clem. Maybe you should go to sleep, alright?"

Upon hearing the topic of sleep, Regina could feel Daniel getting heavier and his breathing getting slower. "You sleepy, Daniel?" Regina questioned the little boy.

He denied it with a quick headshake, "No!" Despite his answer, Daniel's head never emerged from his mother's neck. Regina looked over at Lee without saying a word and rolled her eyes while shaking her head at her son, "Are any of these rooms open?"

"There are a few, but most are locked—you know, it being a motel and all…" Lee responded with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I call the bottom floor!" Ferrera called from over by Katjaa.

Regina glanced at her younger sister, "We're sharing a room."

"Fine by me!"

Lee turned over his shoulder to Lilly, "Which room is open?"

Lilly shoved her finger to the wing or the Inn that was on the left, "There are about seven of the 20s open. Take your pick," She told Regina, tossing her a cold stare before continuing her conversation with her father.

Regina raised an eyebrow, "She doesn't like me, does she?" She questioned Lee. The man shrugged, "Don't take it to heart. She's like that with everyone. Not just you. If anything, I say she is her father's daughter."

"Yeah, that makes me feel loads better." Regina responded sarcastically.

Lee shook his head, "Lilly means well, but she sometimes comes off as well… a bad person in the way she goes about things." Lee was going to say bitch, but he remembered they were in the presence of children.

Regina shrugged, "Is she the leader?"

Lee gave an indifferent shrug, "No one's really has the title Leader. Eh, I guess you can say she's kind of self proclaimed as the leader."

"Oh, well then I think being a bitch comes with the title," Regina said, glad Clementine went back to paying attention to her chalk drawing while the adults talked. The man shook his head, "I wouldn't think so, but then again, I'm not the one making the decisions for the entire group. Lilly decided to do that, but Kenny and her have been buttin' heads since day one."

"I can see why," Regina replied. Daniel sucked in a heap of air and Regina knew he was out, "Well, I'm goin' to go lay him down. I can't thank you and Carley enough for speaking up for us earlier."

Lee waved it off, "Like I said, I would have wanted someone to do it for me, so it was no problem."

Lee took Clementine to bed in a room on the second floor near Carley's. Regina wasn't too ready to go into the room yet, not too sure if they checked each of the open ones thoroughly. She hiked Daniel up on her hip a little more, "You are way too big to be picked up like this, dude."

Ferrera rushed to stand close to her sister, "Gina!" She called to gain the woman's attention.

Ferrera noted how her sister looked tired. Driving all day and lugging the truck through the streets did seem exhausting after all. When her sister hummed a response, Ferrera spoke in low whispers to her older sibling, "You might wanna lock up the car in case someone in their group gets to thinking they wanna steal. We'll ration the food tomorrow or something. It's getting too late to deal with this."

Regina just reached into her pocket with her free hand and handed Ferrera the keys, "I'll trust you to do that. I need to go put Daniel down and I'm tired."

Ferrera fiddled with the keys, then casted a look toward her sister. She needed to stop babying that boy. He needed to learn to toughen up and walk on his own. Danny was way too old and big to be carried around like that. "Let his little butt walk to bed, Gina. He ain't gonna die from walkin'."

The older Latina raised an eyebrow, "Don't worry about what I'm doing. You just go and lock up that car." Ferrera threw a soft glare her sister's way and began to walk away when she was called back. "And get our bags from the car and bring them to the room after you're done," Regina added.

The younger Latina groaned. Regina couldn't do that herself?

The mother opened the door slowly and didn't move from her place in the door way until the door knob thumped against the wall. At first glance, the room looked okay, but motels were not necessarily Regina's first choice of places to sleep on vacations. In fact, she hated motels. They were never nice to stay in and she never had a good experience in one. It smelled musty…

She laid Daniel onto the bed, but did not pull the blankets over him. She wouldn't do that until she had checked the room fully.

Regina could hear Ferrera and Lilly shouting over something outside. Couldn't they shut up for the moment? It wasn't that necessary to argue. She needed to hear for suspicious noises. Bracing herself, she swiftly opened the closet door.

Nothing was in the closet but the needed things to get one's clothes ready in the morning. She grabbed the iron from the top shelf to use as a weapon. Her gun was much too noisy.

"Why the hell can't I?" She could hear Ferrera yell from outside. Regina would give anything to shut the door right then to at least muffle their shouts, but if shit went awry, she'd need that door open.

She crept around the second twin sized bed in the room toward the bathroom. She held the iron over her head, ready to bash anything in the head, and pushed the door open. There was nothing but a tacky shower curtain.

Relaxing, Regina placed the iron on the fake marble counter of the double sinks. The room was clear and she let out the breath she was holding. She took her gun from her boot and laid it beside the iron. The Latina also decided that it was too hot in the room for her jacket, so she tossed her jean jacket off to the side.

"For the last fuckin' time, Lilly, this was our food to begin with. You ain't got no control if I lock the car or not!" Ferrera could be heard. Regina shut the door and moved to take Daniel's jacket off. She sat on the bed next to the sleeping boy and unzipped his green jacket. The bed groaned under her weight. Lilly and Ferrera's shouting was muffled by the door.

Regina made a mental note to go outside and try to settle things when she was through with Daniel. The bed skirt brushed up against her ankle. She removed Daniel's jacket and leaned over to place it on the night stand.

Something clutched her boot covered ankle and pulled—hard. She was forced to kneel on the floor with a loud yelp. Teeth latched onto her ankle which was pulled under the bed. Regina lifted the bed skirt and screamed. She then kicked the decayed being in the face with her free foot.

Daniel jolted awake to the rocking of the bed and he looked down onto the floor. "MOMMY!" His mother was attempting to drag herself away from the walker, pulling it from under the bed as it attempted to crawl farther up her body.

"Ferrera! FERRERA!" Regina called in hopes of her sister hearing her calls. The only answer she had received was the argument of Lilly, Larry, Kenny and her sister.

"Daniel," she cried to her only help as she kicked away the scantily clad woman walker. The walker merely gripped her forearms, and Regina pressed her forearms against the walker's neck like she had at Wal-Mart. "Help me, baby! Find something to hit it with! Hurry!"

* * *

Outside, Lee, Katjaa and Carley watched the dispute between Larry, Kenny, Lilly, and Ferrera. Ferrera was defending her right to lock the car, while Kenny, Lilly and Larry ganged up on her.

It was the first time Lee had ever seen Lilly and Kenny agree on something, but Lee wasn't sure whose side he was on. Because of this, Lee simply decided to sit back and keep his silence beside Katjaa and Carley. He hoped that Kenny wouldn't drag him into the argument.

"The deal was that you can stay here if you had food for the rest of us. You might have eaten but no one else in this group has! We haven't eaten properly in days," Lilly argued.

Ferrera scoffed, "You know, I meant locking it up until my sister got out here. She should be in charge of the freakin' food! You just went in there and grabbed a shit load of stuff. This food won't last forever. I'm hungry, too! But—"

Kenny stepped forward to tower over the girl, "If yer hungry too, then why not let us crack it open now? Yer sister don't seem like she's gonna be out any time soon, and I'd prefer to get some food into me and my family's stomachs before night. We can't be out here at night too long. The gate ain't finished."

Ferrera answered by clicking a button on the key chain and the car locked, "Like I said: We wait for Regina."

Larry started toward the teen, "You little—"

"Go on. Say it, Cletus!" Ferrera provoked.

Katjaa tapped Lee's shoulder, "Do you hear that?" He was confused until Katjaa nodded her head in the direction of Regina's room. Lee couldn't hear anything over the shouting of the four hot heads. "What?"

Katjaa's eyebrows furrowed, "I thought I heard something from Regina's room, but I guess I was—"

A muffled crash was heard from the motel room in question.

* * *

Daniel crawled from the bed, stumbling from being sleep moments before. He tried to move the TV, but it crashed to the ground, breaking and missing the walker completely. Regina reached for the sink counter. Daniel rushed to the counter. The only thing he saw was an iron and his mother's jacket.

"Hit it, Daniel!" Regina managed to overpower the walker and was now straddling its stomach, but it still had a grip on her forearms.

Daniel snatched up the iron and ran back to the other side of the room. He stood over his mother and the walker and hesitated. There was a knock on the door, "Everything alright in there?" It was Katjaa on the other side.

"Hit it, Daniel! Hit it now!"

The little boy dropped the iron on the walker's face. He picked it up and cringed at the sound it made as it detached from the flesh, and then he brought the iron down again as he grunted.

Lee opened the door with Katjaa and Carley standing over his shoulder. It was a sight to see, really: a little boy smashing in the face of a walker. Blood soiled the floor as Regina herself stomped in its face.

"Oh, God..!" Carley gasped. They had cleared out the place when they got here! How did…? They must have missed some rooms. If so, then they would have to surely double check the rooms again for the walkers. Clementine and Duck were playing Hide and Go Seek in a bunch of these rooms the other day. The group was lucky the kids weren't the ones who found the walker.

"Oh, shit…! Regina—!" Lee began, but he stopped himself as he observed Daniel's frozen frame. He was covered in gunk and the little boy surely took notice.

Daniel let the iron fall from his hands and began to thrash around, screaming and patting at himself as if he had spiders crawling on his body. Regina pulled Daniel in for a hug, "Shh, you did good! You saved momma, Danny," Regina soothed. He sobbed into her shoulder, sucking in his snot to keep it from getting on her shirt. His mommy was very close to becoming like Ms. Fran! He would have been next.

The four year old felt his chest clench as he choked on his sobs. Not in the way one would feel when they were scared or worried, but Daniel would usually feel this when his breathing was hindered.

He continued to sob, which is why Regina didn't notice Daniel's gasps. Only when his breathing was speeding up did she pull back from the embrace to examine her son.

Katjaa stepped around Lee, "Is he alright?"

Regina looked panicked as she forced Daniel to sit on the bed, hold his hands above his head and tilted his head back slightly. "No, no… He's not. Ferrera! Ferrera! Bring your ass, Ferrera!"

Carley ran to get Regina's sister, whom had been missing in action. She didn't need to go far since Ferrera had heard Daniel's breakdown and was already on her way.

"Well, what's goin' on with him?" Lee questioned with urgency in his voice. All of that gasping didn't look good for a kid so small.

Regina was attempting to have Daniel take deep breaths, "He's got asthma. It happens for different reasons, but everything will be fine once I get his inhaler."

Ferrera pushed past Katjaa to get into the room. She stumbled back to do a double take of the body on the floor. The walker looked to be a prostitute. She nearly giggled at the sight. "What the hell happened here?" She asked, looking at her sister. Seeing Danny gasping and reaching for the sky meant only one thing. She sprinted out of the room, the keys jingling in her grasp.

"What kind of reasons?" Katjaa asked, kneeling beside Regina to observe the boy out of curiosity.

Ferrera appeared again, an L shaped pump in her hand. Regina snatched it from her and uncapped the red inhaler. She placed it in between Daniel's lips and pressed the top of the pump down. A little puff could be heard. "Breathe in," Daniel did as told and held his breath. "Breath out," Regina commanded calmly. She pumped the inhaler once more and capped it.

Daniel could feel his chest loosen up and his breathing began to calm.

Remembering Katjaa asked a question, Regina turned to her, "It usually happens when he exercises too much, but sometimes it can be because of overexerting himself."

Katjaa nodded as Regina caught sight of her younger sister. She turned away and clenched her fist, trying to calm herself down from snapping at the teen. Ferrera was supposed to have her back more than these strangers, but why were they the first to respond to her cries for help?

"You weren't bitten, were you?" Ferrera questioned sheepishly.

Regina then whipped her head toward Ferrera, "Where the fuck were you? I called you and called you when the walker was tryin' to eat me, but you couldn't hear me, could you?"

Ferrera stepped back, "I—"

"You were too busy shouting over something trivial to pay a-_fucking_-ttention! I needed you Ferrera! Why the hell didn't you answer me? I would have _died _if it weren't for Daniel," Regina shouted.

Lee cleared his throat, "To be fair, it was kind of hard to hear you with the door closed_. I_ wouldn't have even known if it weren't for Katjaa."

Regina hummed as she stood and brushed past Ferrera—snatching the keys from her hand in the process—to walk from the room. "Well, then I think I owe you a thank you, Katjaa," She said curtly before leaving to get their book bags filled with clothes from the car herself. Danny trailed after her slowly, taking in a deep breath.

As her sister was walking away, Ferrera noticed a bite imprinted on the heel of her sister's right shoe. The bite never ripped through her leather boot. Her sister got lucky once again.

* * *

Author's Corner:

Happy New Year to you all! Thank you all for your favorites and follows and especially to those who reviewed. I don't know what it is, but when I say _**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WELCOME**_, people don't review as much. So, I guess I'll say **_ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME_**!

What can I improve about my OCs? What can I do to make these characters in character because I'm sure Larry and Lilly are ooc. Larry was just too quiet to me and his smart ass comments weren't even there.

They pay a visit to the US Air Force Base next chapter. It's never mentioned, but that's where Mark ends up with the group.

* * *

**_Author's Responses_**

**_milliontinystars_**: Thank you! Please stay tuned for next chapter! :)

**_Death's Inevitable Kiss_**: Thanks for reviewing! And yeah, I was pretty worried about the flow in that chapter and even in this chapter. I'm really glad you like Danny.

When I see kids in stories, they always fade into the background as the typical oblivious and innocent child (kind of air headed) despite all of the events taking place. I didn't want Daniel to be a cliche and just fade into his mother's shadow (if that makes any sense). It really made me smile that you pointed him out, because that meant he stood out as his own character. Now I'm just worried about Ferrera...

Anyways, thanks again for the review! And I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter!


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